The Automatic Earth

This is number eight in a series of articles documenting the principles and practice of eco-thrifty renovation written by Estwing of the ETR Blog for the Wanganui Chronicle. To date this column has introduced the concept of eco-thrifty renovation and explained the first three of seven design principles that guided us through this process: solar gain, thermal mass and insulation. I’ve emphasized the concepts of payback period and “low-hanging fruit.” Before I move on to our fourth design principle –

This is number five in a series of articles documenting the principles and practice of eco-thrifty renovation written by Estwing of the ETR Blog for the Wanganui Chronicle. I will admit that in the first four weeks of this column I did not offer very many examples of low-hanging fruit with short payback periods as implied in the first column. I will also admit that I love Neil Diamond and I love pelmets. While I spent the last three columns

This is the third in an ongoing series documenting the principles and practice of eco-thrifty renovation by Estwing of the ETR Blog, being published every Saturday in the Wanganui Chronicle.   Last week I wrapped up my column with words of wisdom that did not quite make the list of trending terms on Twitter. For those of you who missed the re-Tweets, those words were, “A window is simply a hole in the side of your home with a piece

This is Part #1 in an ongoing series about Eco-Thrifty Renovation, by Estwing of the ETR Blog. This series recalls the design principles and decision making process of an eco-thrifty renovation. We believe the key components of a sustainable home include low energy use, redundant energy and water systems, abundant food production and avoidance of debt to the greatest extent possible. For under NZ$100,000 (US$80,000) and a year of hard work, we have developed one of the most sustainable and

  This is a guest article by Joanna Bailey   The Original Department of Subsistence Homesteads Between 1933 and 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal created thirty-four communities under the Division of Subsistence Homesteads (DSH). The DSH, funded at $25 million, pledged to organize pilot programs showing how the country could benefit from semirural neighborhoods with part-time farming. Each project would be initiated at the state level and administered through a nonprofit corporation. Successful applicants would be offered a